Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,35

heard was what they wanted you to hear because the other option wasn’t possible. Liliana was my mate and my only love. She gave me my son, Sven. So whatever the witches were trying to do through you, it won’t work.” He lifted his cup, sipping the whiskey before leaning closer.

His hand moved to touch mine, and I yanked them away. I forced my chair back until the chill of the morning, covering the side of the tent, touched my skin. Knox chuckled, shaking his head, and released a shuddered breath before he pulled his hand back, studying me.

“I’m sorry, Aria.”

Tears swam in my vision, but I refused to allow them to fall. He was sorry? Sorry for what? For telling me he only wanted to use my body? For trying to drown me in the bathtub filled with dirty water? Or accusing me of being such a monstrous bitch that I’d use his dead wife against him like some blackmailing whore?

“You should drink the whiskey to stay warm. It’s cold out today, and we’re going to be moving camp again. It will warm you against the chill in the air,” he stated, pushing it closer.

My eyes continued to stare at the tent flap, wishing I could escape through it. I knew if I so much as inched toward it, Knox would stop me. I almost craved the cage that only held enough room for one prisoner to fit. Knox lunged, grabbing my hand, staring at me while I pulled on it.

“Let me go,” I whispered so softly that it was barely audible.

“Never,” he swallowed, searching my face.

“Let me go now!” I screamed vehemently, and he did, releasing me as tears rolled from my eyes. “Do not touch me again,” I warned with venom and barbs coating the words.

“So you can speak,” he snorted, sitting back down. “You’ve just chosen not to speak to me?”

“I have one use, King Karnavious. You don’t need my words to use my body,” I hissed, sitting back down as his mouth fell open and then snapped closed again.

“Aria,” he whispered, dropping his head, then sniffed, lifting his eyes to the blood that seeped from my shoulder. “You’re wounded.”

I didn’t answer him. I didn’t even look in his direction. He’d forced me to move, jarring the injury to my shoulder. He stood, walking to the front of the tent, speaking to someone in his language before returning to sit in his chair. His gaze slid to the blood dripping down my arm, the wound’s sting creating a pulse in my shoulder.

Brander entered the tent, placing his medical bag on the table before hunching down in front of me, looking at my face. Sapphire eyes slid to the shoulder of my white dress, now a bright crimson.

“I’m going to need to look at your shoulder.” Brander watched as my head nodded with permission.

Brander stood, moving around behind me, and slowly pushed the dress aside to reveal the scabbed injury. He hissed, finding the flesh mangled.

“Your shoulder had healed,” he pointed out, and Knox rattled low in his throat, seeing what had happened. “It looks as if blades removed the skin.”

“What the hell did you do, Aria?” Knox demanded angrily.

“I removed your mark because it offended me,” I admitted in a deadpan tone.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Brander grunted, shocked at what I had done to myself. “You’d have had to cut the flesh to the bone—which is why it hasn’t healed yet,” he admitted. “Bloody hell, Aria.”

“You can’t just remove a mark. It doesn’t work like that,” Knox growled, his eyes boring a hole into the side of my head.

“Apparently, you can. If the mark was ill-placed or it offended both parties. It’s removable so long as you rid your body of the marked flesh.”

“My mark upon your skin did not offend me, woman.”

I stared at the daylight pouring in from outside the tent. My heart thundered in my chest as I refused to respond. Knox didn’t merit a reply since it hadn’t been about him. Brander touched the raw, bleeding flesh, and I didn’t react to the pain.

“Who was offended by the mark on your shoulder, Aria?” Brander asked.

“My creature and I decided it was vile, and we detested it marring our flesh. King Karnavious placed it there under false pretenses; therefore, we removed it. Mistakes happen, and while at the time it seemed right to allow the king’s mark, it wasn’t, and so we amended our mistake.”

“You cut your shoulder to the bone to